Digital Bob Archive

21 March 1980 issue

NOVEMBER 22, 1926-The Thomas Hardware Company is the name of a new concern that will open its doors after the first of the year at the old Juneau Hardware location on Front Street. J. C. Thomas, formerly with the W. P. Mills store at Sitka and the Alaska Supply Company in Juneau will be president and manager. Other incorporators are Louis K. and K. K. Post. The old Juneau Hardware building and lot have been purchased by the firm. (Note: This is now Lyle?s downtown store.)

JUNE 21, 1927-Sam Paul, formerly connected with the Treadwell Market, has purchased a one third interest in the Gastineau Grocery, operated by his brother Gabe, and will clerk in the store.

JULY 26, 1928-The Apex No. 1, Captain Ed McDougall, arrived yesterday with a cargo of coal for the local market from the Harkrader coal mine on Kootznahoo Inlet and has returned to the mine for another load.

NOVEMBER 17, 1928-The most up-to-date laundry establishment in Alaska, one equal in efficiency although not in capacity to any laundry on the Pacific Coast, is now operating in Juneau. The Alaska Steam Laundry is located in its new building on Shattuck Way, immediately behind the old building on South Franklin. It is equipped to handle the business of a city of 15,000, more than double Juneau?s present population. The plant has its own water softener as well as the most modern machinery, all on 9,000 square feet of floor space according to J. S. MacKinnon, general manager. There will be an open house in the new building next week.

APRIL 15, 1929-Making the first non-stop flight from Seattle to Alaska, the five passenger seaplane Juneau, a 432-E Lockheed Vega, arrived over Gastineau Channel a few minutes before 2 this afternoon. She had left Seattle at 7:15 their time or 6 o?clock Juneau time. The craft was piloted by Anscel C. Eckmann with Robert Ellis as navigator and Jack Halloron as mechanic. The ship is owned by Washington-Alaska Airways Company and is powered by a 425-hp. Pratt & Whitney motor giving it an airspeed of 163 miles per hour. It is the same type used by Captain George Wilkins and Pilot Ben Eielson in their Polar expedition a year ago. The plane passed over Ketchikan and Petersburg on the way to Juneau.

JUNE 8, 1933-Frank Maier, owner of the Glacier Dairy, is having a new barn, silo and can storage house built on his property on the Glacier Highway. The barn is to be 128 by 39 feet. G. E. Krause & Company is the contractor.

MAY 18, 1934-The grand opening of Mike?s Place, the new Front Street dine and dance palace in Douglas, is scheduled for tomorrow at 6 p.m. There will be a three piece orchestra and a special dinner menu for the opening.

AUGUST 10, 1936-A specially built blue bodied, red winged Vultee monoplane, flown by Soviet pilots Sigismund Levanevisky and Victor I. Levchenko, who are mapping an air route from America to Moscow, arrived here from Ketchikan this afternoon. From here it will fly to Fairbanks, Nome and Siberia.

AUGUST 18, 1936-Mark Jensen, pitcher and outfielder for the Douglas baseball team, was the batting champion of the Gastineau Channel Baseball League for 1936. His batting average was .371 for the season. Joe Snow was in second place with a .360 average.

APRIL 25, 1941-Given a room of their own at the rear of the Territory Library and Museum, the 24 pastel paintings of Alaska Natives recently purchased from Mrs. Nina Crumrine by the legislature will be on view to the public next week. The 24 portraits were purchased for $3,600.

JULY 14, 1941-Peter F. Gilmore has arrived from Ketchikan to become clerk in the office of Attorney General Henry Roden. Gilmore was senate messenger in 1939 and Senate sergeant-at-arms in 1941. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University.

JULY 25, 1941-Hugh J. Wade, Alaska director of Social Security, has also been named Territorial Coordinator for Health, Welfare and Related Defense Activities.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1941-Unless the residents of Juneau wake up, the capital of Alaska will be transferred to Anchorage within the next 10 years, Herb Hilscher, magazine writer, told members of the Juneau Rotary Club this noon. He pointed to the recent move of the Civil Aeronautics Administration to Anchorage and said, ?Juneau has just two payrolls ? the Alaska-Juneau and government, and the A-J isn?t going to get any larger. Anchorage is growing rapidly and has little industry to support it and will soon start making raids on federal and territorial offices,? Hilscher concluded.

JANUARY 2, 1942-All Juneau fishermen and other owners of boats of more than five net tons have been requested by Frank Metcalf, Defense Director, to meet at the Deep Sea Fishermen?s union hall at 380 Franklin Street tonight to organize a Civilian Defense Marine Patrol.

MARCH 27, 1942-After 40 years in business in Juneau, the Juneau Laundry is closing its doors tomorrow. Loss of skilled labor is given as the reason. There was already a labor shortage when Mack Mori and Tommy Itabashi, both American born Japanese, were called for induction into the U. S. Army. The Juneau Laundry?s premises on Franklin Street, next to the Light Power Company offices, will be occupied on April 1 by Rod Darnell?s Triangle Cleaners.

JANUARY 19, 1943-After five years in business in Juneau, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Erwin of Case Lot Grocery have closed their business for the duration of the war. ?When victory is won, we will reopen with a bigger and better Case Lot Grocery,? Erwin said.